HarperCollins Adult
Eating with Peace and ModerationThe Art of Mindfulness
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Mindful Eating

A HarperOne Select

Thich Nhat Hanh

Lilian Cheung

Mindful Eating
 

Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Zen Master, poet, scholar and peace activist. During the war in Vietnam, he worked tirelessly for reconciliation between North and South Vietnam. His courageous efforts to generate peace moved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. During the war, he founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon and the School of Youth for Social Service. Forced into exile because of his efforts to negotiate peace in Vietnam, he continued his activism, rescuing boat people and helping to resettle Vietnamese refugees abroad. Thich Nhat Hanh is the author of many books including such important classics as Peace is Every Step and Anger. He lives Plum Village, his meditation center in France, and travels worldwide, leading retreats on the art of mindful living. Visit the author at www.plumvillage.org.



 

Lilian Cheung

Dr. Lilian Cheung is a lecturer and Director of Health Promotion and Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health's Department of Nutrition. She has been a co-investigator at Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity, which collaborates with community partners to design, implement and evaluate programs that improve nutrition and physical activity among children and youth. She is also the creator and editorial director of The Nutrition Source, http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource, the Harvard School of Public Health's nutrition website for journalists, health professionals and consumers.


 

Extras


Quotes

"Among Buddhist leaders influential in the West, Thich Nhat Hanh ranks second only to the Dalai Lama."


- New York Times
"Scientists no longer believe that weight gain and obesity are primarily the result of percentages of fat or carbohydrates in our diets. Intead we are learning that weight gain is heavily influenced by both mindfulness and social context. Hahn and Cheung explore the convergence of nutritional science with Buddhist teaching and find complementary insights. Together, they provide approaches that can help to heal both individual and societal illness that is being manifested as an epidemic of obesity. Everyone can learn from this book"


- Walter Willett, M.D., author of Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy and Chair, Department of Nutrition Harvard School of Public Health
"Authored by an eminent spiritual leader and a renowned nutritionist, this work infuses science into wisdom and wisdom into science. It is a practical guide to eating mindfully and points the way to attain a healthier weight and a more satisfying life."


- From the foreword by Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D. President, Institute of Medicine
"Thich Nhat Hanh is a holy man, for he is humble and devout. He is a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity."


- Martin Luther King, Jr., in nominating Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize
"He shows us the connection between personal, inner peace, and peace on earth."


- His Holiness the Dalai Lama
"Thich Nhat Hanh is a real poet."


- Robert Lowell
"Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha."


- Sogyal Rinpoche
"Thich Nhat Hanh is more my brother than many who are nearer to me in race and nationality, because he and I see things the exact same way."


- Thomas Merton
"If Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Nhat Hanh says the same thing over and over, it could be because not enough people have heard him, and those who have need a reminder. He speaks to both groups in this work, coauthored by Harvard nutritionist Cheung, urging mindfulness about what people put in their mouths. It's a diet book and a meditation book, an unusual hybrid that makes sense for Nhat Hanh because it applies his essential wisdom: pay attention; breathe. If you consistently do that, you'll eat less, and at least two-thirds of Americans surely need to follow that advice. This book adds a lot of eat-this-and-not-that rules, as well as exercise guidelines, delivering so much information the effect is a little overwhelming. But the core meditation instructions are quintessential Nhat Hanh, steely and loving. This could be the diet-and-exercise book for those who have failed using other methods and need a fresh approach. For Nhat Hanh's many fans, it is the sole wellness book they'll need to remind themselves to only pay attention."


- Publisher's Weekly - Religion Bookline
"So essential to healthy eating is a healthy perspective that Zen Buddhist master and prolific author Nhat Hanh joins forces with nutritionist Cheung for a truly holistic approach. The duo pairs the latest nutritional information with the age-old Buddhist practice of mindfulness-that is, of being "fully aware of all that is going on within ourselves and all that is happening around us"-to draw attention to what and how we eat. Guidance is offered for recognizing what "barriers-physical, psychological, cultural, and environmental"-prevent us from controlling our weight, and readers are encouraged to savor food in order to fully nourish both the body and the mind. To that end, Nhat Hanh provides guided meditations on everything from eating an apple to coping with stressful situations, along with advice on food selection and preparation, staying active, and avoiding self-criticism. Complete with a discussion of why healthy eating is also good for the environment, this is a uniquely insightful and positive program for wellness; a book of tested wisdom; practical action; and intellectual, emotional, and spiritual nutriments."


- Booklist Advanced Reviews
"Successful long-term weight loss is 10% knowing the right facts and 90% having the right state of mind. Even the best diet in the world will ultimately fall short, without the ability to look deeply within, set goals consistent with our greatest good, and live consciously, moment to moment. Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung, in Savor, have brought us a profoundly beautiful and powerful guide to mindful eating and living. Please savor it."


- David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, Director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) Program, Children's Hospital Boston and author, Ending the Food Fight: Guide your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World.
"This is a uniquely insightful and positive program for wellness; a book of tested wisdom; practical action; and intellectual, emotional, and spiritual nutriments."


- Booklist
"The core meditation instructions are quintessential Nhat Hanh, steely and loving. This could be the diet-and-exercise book for those who have failed using other methods and need a fresh approach. For Nhat Hanh's many fans, it is the sole wellness book they'll need to remind themselves to only pay attention."


- Publishers Weekly
"...Not your average healthy-eating guide. 'Savor' may have us rethinking every bite, but maybe that's just what we need.."


- Tricycle Magazine
"In their new book, "Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life," Lilian Cheung, a nutritionist at Harvard, and Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist teacher, give important advice to dieters about using Buddhist techniques of mindfulness to control overeating."


- New York Times
"Even if you already have your weight under control, implementing the exercises in this book is bound to enhance the presence and sensuous pleasure of your eating."


- Basil & Spice
"...edifying and accessible..."


- Spirituality & Practice
"Savor rises above the cacophony of nutrition and weight loss books by shedding light on the how of eating and living, and not just focusing on the what. It presents a fusion of Buddhist principles of mindfulness with up-to-date nutrition science, brought to you by authors who are world leaders in their respective fields. This welcome approach can open one's heart, mind, and taste buds to truly appreciate the central roles that food, nutrition and physical activity play in our individual lives and in our paradoxically fast-paced yet sedentary society. While the focus is on achieving and maintaining a healthful weight, these principles can be applied with other areas, to cultivate a more thoughtful and joyful appreciation for the foods we eat and the activities we do. This is truly a book to savor."


- Lawrence H. Kushi, Sc.D., Associate Director for Etiology & Prevention Research, Kaiser Permanente
"The book is recommended not only for those seeking practical advice on how to control excesses leading to overweight but also to anyone wishing to bring balance into his or her everyday life."


- New Age Retailer
"Together, Cheung and Hanh offer a primer on psychological and spiritual health, as well as a practical nutritional guide to healthier eating."


- Harvard Magazine